After digging out from underneath the Snowpocalypse this past weekend, we finally were able to make good on our promise to see Avatar. To put it mildly, we were not disappointed. The film managed to capture a truly different world, its inhabitants and its flora and fauna… flawlessly. From astounding examples of bioluminescence to the careful detail paid to Pandora’s animal life, we were blown away. (A word of advice… see it in 3-D if you can)

Now, Popular Mechanics beat us to the punch in analyzing the science behind Avatar: the exoskeletal war machines; alpha centauri; antimatter propulsion; and even the plausibility of linking one’s consciousness to a biological being. And these science experts are absolutely right on these fronts. However, we do have a few lingering questions which popped up during the movie…

Connectivity: Beyond the fact that we are nowhere near understanding how to integrate consciousness into a foreign biological body, we here take issue with the mechanics behind this amazing connection everyone is able to maintain with their respective Avatar. For example, at one point in the film, the main character is lost on Pandora in his avatar. The embedded military conducts a widespread search for him, but cannot locate him. NONE THE LESS… his connection with his avatar remains unbroken. Umm… what?! No GPS? No signal tracking? Speaking of which, how in the heck does the signal even reach through jungle and swamp all over the moon of Pandora? The energy output on a transmitter would have to be unimaginable. And how about the avatars themselves? Do their biomechanical energies (as mentioned in the movie) power the receiver? This is probably the weakest scientific point, and is never really addressed in the film.

Geology: On the moon of Pandora, we find floating mountains (the Hallelujah Mountains) and a new mineral referred to as unobtainium (yes, we think they phoned that one in too). Pandora has less gravity on it, and it orbits a massive gas giant, similar to Jupiter. But how exactly would either of these factors allow huge stone mountains to float in mid-air? If the gravity of a nearby gas giant is enough to pull mountains aloft, wouldn’t it just pull the whole kit n’ kaboodle (aka: Pandora) along with it? As for the unobtainium mineral deposits and their energy potential, we’ve decided to let James Cameron have a free pass on that, because the movie was so damn good in general. We’ll assume for now that this was just “creative license”.

Disease: We all know that nature abhors a vacuum. We also know that close contact between any two living beings will result in bacterial/viral exchange. So how is it that all of Pandora’s creatures we were introduced to, have these organic “plugs” hot-wired to their central nervous system which allow them to download or upload the consciousness of others… yet there is no worry about disease? To me, that’s tantamount to french kissing a komodo dragon on the lips and expecting you’ll be juuust fine. Are there no viruses or bacteria on Pandora? With such a diverse array of flora and fauna, one would assume that somewhere along the evolutionary tree, a virus or two evolved, no?

What do you think? Did we miss something in Avatar? Did you see something that didn’t quite meet the high bar of scientific accuracy James Cameron set for the film? We would love to hear about it. Email us, tweet us or let us know in the comments below!

For the next 23 days, we’ll be turning our gaze away from the science of Fringe, and looking around at some other areas where science meets popular fiction.

This weekend (not last weekend – as we clearly had our dates mixed up) James Cameron’s Avatar releases, and we couldn’t be more excited. This year’s Surrogates movie really irked us with its apocalyptic view of life-changing technology that could assist the paralyzed and handicapped, but Cameron takes the same science and turns it into a life-affirming message (by all accounts). In short, a handicapped marine’s thoughts are inserted into an avatar on an alien world – and he is given full mobility back… and then some. Thankfully Cameron (unlike Mostow) gives a more positive view of the science which could potentially help our friends and neighbors in years to come.

In a similar vein, we can’t wait for Extraordinary Measures to come out next month. While it may not be our normal scifi fare here on EleventhHourFacts, we can’t wait for what looks to be a very accurate portrayal of the drug discovery process that biotech researchers endure daily. The movie is based on the true story of John Crowley – whose children both inherited Pompe Disease, which manifests itself as a life-threatening wasting away of the muscles.

In keeping with the movie’s tagline “Don’t Hope for a Miracle. Make One.”, Crowley enlisted a biotech researcher (played by Harrison Ford in the film) to help find a treatment for what is really quite a rare disease. These groups of personally committed charity investors are what is driving much of the tremendous research we see today in biotechnology’s “emerging companies”. So the film not only shows Crowley’s personal struggle, but it also highlights just how time-consuming and byzantine the road to a “cure” can actually be.

In addition, the film’s website has a load of ways for you to participate in helping to find so many treatments still undiscovered. They have an online “quilt” where you can upload your story and win $10k for your favorite charity. They have a way for you to share your inspirational story on twitter or facebook. They also have much more information on Pompe Disease and the struggle it took to find a treatment. Inspiring story of science bringing real positive change to the world we live in – and just how hard that road can be at times. Check out the trailer below, and let us know if you think you’ll want to see this movie too:

We took a look at Wired’s list of this decade’s most beloved scifi movies… and while there were some true greats in there (Stanislaw Lem’s “Solaris” for example), there were also some real stinkers (District 9, for example). Now, while each of us has his/her own personal taste in films, we evaluated the list exclusively from the perspective of the plausibility of the science involved. What do you think? Were there others that should have made the list, but didn’t? Are any of these unfairly promoted to a “best of” list? Let us know in the comments below!

I just caught this article that highlights a recent study of identical twins and how quickly they grey. It turns out that environmental factors are not really that much of a factor after all – leaving us to blame our parents for passing on the grey genes to us. (Thanks, Dad!) The study also found some cases of baldness were hereditary while others were clearly influenced by as-of-yet-unknown environmental factors. Check this article out for more information on the study. But what do you think? Have you seen studies that contradict this? Let us know in the comments below.

Ok… so not all of these are even plausible as gifts, but a few of them are. The Scientist recently published its “Top 10 Innovations for 2009″ for the life sciences… and more than a few of these had us drooling on our keyboards. Between standardized imaging data for use across labs, or even a handy-dandy pathogen detector, these are some amazing steps toward a better understanding of DNA, bacteria and an array of other challenges faced by biotech researchers. Besides… who wouldn’t want a DNA sequence capture tool as a conversation piece on their coffee table??